About Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz - The first Horowitz

He lived in Horovice and later in Prague at the beginning of the 16th century (he died in 1514).

R. Yishayahu was a prominent, rich and respected member of Prague Jewish community. He had 7 sons, of whom Aharon Meshulam and Shabtai Sheftel were the best known.

According to family tradition (first recorded in the late 19th century), the name Horowitz is associated with Horovice, a small town near Prague in the Czech Republic, where Jews who fled from Spain were allowed to settle. The founders of the dynasty were Levites but later non-Levites also entered the family through marriage.

Family tradition (first recorded in the late 19th century) has it, that according to scripts from previous centuries, the Halevi family originated in the region of Cataluña, Spain. From among the many family members, most famous is Rabbi Zarchiya Halevi from Gerona, known as "Baal Hamaor", and we have knowledge of 11 generations of this family in Spain.

The R1a1a Ashkenazi Levite Y-DNA subclade

This website is devoted to the R1a1a Ashkenazi Levite Y-DNA subclade. Known descendants of the Horowitz Levitical rabbinical family of Prague are R1a1a Ashkenazi Levites.

Perhaps half of the R1a1a Ashkenazi Levites who have tested to at least 37 Short Tandem Repeat ("STR") markers appear to share a common ancestor who lived in or about the 15th century.

It is believed that this common ancestor – who appears to be the direct male ancestor of more than 1% of Ashkenazim living today – may be the founder of the Horowitz rabbinical family, Rabbi Isaiah ben Moshe Asher Halevi Horowitz (c1440 – 1515).

Most of the Horowitz men who have tested STR markers to date appear to be descended from the line of Isaiah’s great grandson Pinchas Halevi Horowitz (1535-1618), but we have test results for groups of men who apparently descend from Isaiah through other lines (presumably including the line of Isaiah’s grandson the Shelah, Rabbi Isaiah Halevi Horowitz (1568-1627).